Big Grants

Purpose

To support unsolicited research projects or training grants with total direct costs of $500,000 or more in any year of the grant.

Procedure

Investigators must have NIAID approval before submitting an investigator-initiated new, renewal, revision, or any amended or revised version of the original application requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year; for details, see the October 16, 2001, Guide notice. This $500,000 limit excludes any consortium facilities and administrative costs.

NIAID accepts a limited number of large grant applications, and we weigh their prospects carefully. CSR will return applications if they lack documentation of our acceptance.

Although investigators can ask for $499,000 without our preapproval, it's to their advantage to contact us because of the following:

• If you ask for $499,000 in the first year, the out years could be more than $500,000, even if you don't request an annual increase.
• We may not have money to fund the application. NIAID funds few big grants each year because they strain the budget and compromise grant numbers, which Congress monitors.
• For planning purposes, our program divisions should be aware of big-dollar applications.

NIH's big grant policy also applies to multiproject applications even if none of the individual projects requests $500,000 or more. It does not apply to applications submitted in response to RFAs or other programs with budgetary limits over $500,000, such as SBIR or STTR phase II applications.

Clinical trial applications follow their own process -- go to Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trials Resources for more information.

Investigators

• You must obtain NIAID preapproval before submitting an unsolicited big grant application. CSR will not accept your application without documentation of our acceptance.
• Before writing an application, discuss your plans to seek funding with your program officer, who can advise you on the feasibility of gaining an award.
• Seek IC staff's agreement to accept assignment at least six weeks before you anticipate applying. If the requested dollars are significantly greater than $500,000, then approval should be sought even earlier.
• When submitting your application, include the documentation of NIAID's agreement to accept your application and a data sharing plan. Work with your institution to ensure that your plan complies with grantee-specific regulations, NIH policies, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Submit your application by the CSR standard submission date.

Program Officers

• Advise investigators on their data sharing plans so that they comply with all policies and regulations, including the NIH data sharing policy and HIPAA.
• In deciding whether to accept assignment of a big grant application, consider program relevance, feasibility, scientific priority, and budget.
• To accept a big grant application, do the following:
• If NIAID's Scientific Review Program is reviewing the application, contact SRP to arrange receipt date and peer review dates.
• Note: Do not save copies of the forms below locally; bookmark them to ensure you are using the latest version. Be sure to fill in the "return to:" section of the ARA form if you wish to be informed of any action taken by DEA.
• Complete a big grant email acceptance form, which must include your division director's approval. Route this form through your division coordinator.
  • Your division coordinator will email the form to Contact for NIAID Staff, Contact for NIAID Staff, and Contact for NIAID Staff.
  • They will resolve any questions with your division and ensure that funds are available.
• After you receive Institute approval, fill out a big grant ARA form and email it to Contact for NIAID Staff. They will complete the form and send it to CSR.
• Prepare a big grant acceptance letter that includes the division director's signature, and send it to the investigator. He or she must include this as a cover letter in the big grant application package.

Contacts

Applicants with questions should Contact Staff for Help.

Contact for NIAID Staff

Contact for NIAID Staff -- NIAID Budget and Financial Management Branch

If you have knowledge to share or want more information on this topic, email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.

Links

Big Grant Applications questions and answers

Data Sharing for Grants: Final Research Data SOP

Data Sharing for Grants: Genome-Wide Association Studies SOP

NIAID Funding Policy and Process SOP